NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Air travel with a sextant
From: Alexandre Eremenko
Date: 2004 Dec 9, 13:34 -0500
From: Alexandre Eremenko
Date: 2004 Dec 9, 13:34 -0500
One of my favorite jokes I tell to my students when they spot a mistake in my calculation on the blackboard is this: "There are three kinds of math professors. First, those who can count. Second, those who cannot." (End of the joke). It is a common misunderstanding that mathematicians mostly do complicated calculations, or that they are somehow better in this than other people. For example, I was very impressed that some people on this list can reduce a lunar by hand in 30 minutes:-) Alex. On Thu, 9 Dec 2004, Bruce Stark wrote: > GO HENRY! > > Alex wrote: "Security 'officers' I met were of the same > kind as 17-years old > girls in a local supermarket who cannot count your > change when the computer is > off." > > You responded: "Hardly different from a navigator > who can't do a time sight > if his > calculator gives up -- is it now? > Sorry Alex, I just had one of those > irresistible urges!" > > Perfect shot! Even though we both know Alex is > probably better than we are at > hand calculation. > > Bruce